Trends: Secure your USB flash drives

2009/08/15

CHANDRA DEVI RENGANAYAR

LAST year British dry cleaners found approximately 9,000 USB flash drives in the pockets of pants sent to them for washing.

In another survey it was found that 12,500 handheld gadgets, including USB drives, were left behind in taxis in London and New York every six months.

These surveys undertaken by Credant Technologies, a United States-based data security company brought to attention two interesting facts.

One is that portable storage solutions have become so small that it is easy to misplace or lose them.

The other is how valuable digital information stored in these devices can easily fall into the wrong hands.

Today, most people own more than one USB flash drives — to carry photos, music, videos and documents. While thinking of convenience, not many are concerned about protecting the information on board these memory devices.

USB flash drives for the fashion conscious.

Imagine having sensitive personal information stored in a USB memory stick and losing it. A terrifying situation indeed if criminals get a hold of these personal data and assume your identity to siphon money from your bank account or use your credit card to buy goods online.

Of course sensitive information would be out of harm’s way if we avoid storing it on a USB device. However, sometimes this is unavoidable.

If you must keep sensitive information on a memory stick, then always remember to secure or encrypt the data on board. By password-protecting and encrypting data on the USB flash drives, it becomes much more difficult for crooks to steal data.

Another good practice would be to wear the small USB drives round your neck or wrist. This would reduce the chances of misplacing the devices. If you are fashion conscious, there are plenty of trendy flash drives in the market which can be worn as a pendant, brooch or wristwatch.